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With the storm centered to the north, Interstate 80 was closed at 1 p.m. Tuesday, but to the south Highway 50 remained open. As the system moves south, Highway 50 will be impacted. Both roads are expected to close intermittently over the next two days.

By Tuesday morning, several ski resorts around the Tahoe Basin, including Squaw and Sugar Bowl, reported two feet of fresh snow overnight.

Amid the warmer storm, snow levels hovered around 5,500 feet Monday and are expected to rise to 6,000 to 7,000 feet by Wednesday as the storm carries in some warmer air. Rain is likely at lake level Wednesday.

Tahoe Basin snowfall totals for the four-day storm are expected to be two to four feet below 7,000 feet and up to eight feet at elevations above 7,000 feet.

With a long vapor plume originating near Hawaii, the storm will be warmer and wetter, delivering a type of snow known as "Sierra cement" through at least Wednesday.

Marvin Boyd, a meteorologist with the NWS Reno office, explains the dense snow has a higher water content. You typically need to melt about a foot of snow to get an inch of water, but with Sierra cement, eight inches is equivalent to one inch of water.

Heavy snow on roofs can also trigger dangerous roof-avalanches, with hundreds of pounds of snow and ice sliding off at once. Sierra cement can also be more dangerous on roadways, as it's stickier and more slick.

"It's not like the fluffy snow that skiers call 'powder,'" Boyd explained to SFGATE. "If you're a skier, Sierra cement doesn't ski as well. You slide more instead of cutting on your ski edge or snowboard edge. It's easier to turn in powder."

On Thursday, temperatures and snow levels are expected to drop with light, fluffy snow in the forecast.